Tag Archives: Steam

Foreign Lines – North Queensland

In 1999 1079 is at Barron Falls Station during its climb up the range to Kuranda in tropical North Queensland.This was the first time a mainline loco worked the line as the track was in the process of being upgraded.

The Barron Falls (Aboriginal: Bibhoora) is a steep tiered cascade waterfall on the Barron River located where the river descends from the Atherton Tablelands to the Cairns coastal plain, in Queensland, Australia.

Barron Falls near Kuranda, Australia

Date 27 January 2005 Source Wikipedia Author Ashlsimm Permission (Reusing this file) The copyright holder of this file, Ash Simmons, allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted.

When the question of providing a high-speed service between London and Newcastle in the early 1930s was being mooted, the question of utilising a diesel-electric train was at one time seriously considered, but as this would have given neither the desired standard of comfort nor the required speed, the idea was dropped. It was decided to use conventional type of rolling stock with steam propulsion and a certain amount of streamlining to reduce wind pressure at the high speeds contemplated, as Sir Nigel Gresley assured the directors that he could produce an engine and train which would amply cover the requirements. His ‘Silver Link’, which appeared in 1935, was in effect an improved version of his already successful ‘Pacific’ design, but greatly altered in appearance. The now familiar wedge-shaped streamline casing was certainly startling at the time.
The first four engines, Nos.2509-12, soon showed themselves fully capable of doing all that was required, and in 1937 further examples were built for working the even more ambitious high speed non-stop ’Coronation’ between London and Edinburgh. Eventually the class consisted of 35 engines, Nos.2509-12, 4462-9, 4482-4500 and 4900-3. No.4498 was named ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ after its designer.

Sir Nigel Gresley at Bridgnorth

The exploits of these remarkable engines is comparatively recent history and needs no repetition here, but the 126 mph speed attained by No.4468 ‘Mallard’ in July 1938 remains to this day a world record for steam which can be substantiated. A claim of 127 mph by a Pennsylvania ‘Atlantic’ in 1905 seems to have been based upon somewhat flimsy evidence and can hardly be accepted.

Union of South Africa – Shildon 2014

No.4469 was destroyed at York in 1842 in an air raid, but the remainder were renumbered 1-34 in 1946 although not in chronological order. They duly became BR 60001-34 and were still in service in 1959. In recent years the valances over the driving wheels have been cut away to give easier access to the motion, and most of them have now Kylchap blast pipes and double chimneys, which were originally fitted to Nos.4468 and 4901-3.

Another day out with Wickson’s Travel from Walsall Wood, Staffordshire, this time to Swindon, the home of STEAM – the Great Western Railway Museum (and, for the ladies, a retail park next door!).
An extremely interesting and well-laid out museum with lots to see and do, and children are well catered for too, with various models to have a go on.
Also worth a mention is the Cafe, good food, good value and friendly staff, as were the rest of the museum staff.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1908 – 4-6-0 & 4-6-4T

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

No. 1658 when new in 1922

The first twenty of these large four-cylinder 4-6-0s were designed by G.Hughes and came out from Horwich works in 1908-9 as L&Y Rly Nos. 1506-25. In their original form they were unsatisfactory engines and were heavy in coal consumption. In 1922 No. 1522 was superheated and the cylinder diameter enlarged by half-an-inch. This effected such a marked improvement that not only were most of the remainder similarly dealt with, but construction of a further 35 engines was put in hand. They were to have been Nos.1649-83, but No. 1675 was the last to carry an L&YR number and the rest came out as LMS 10447-54.

Meanwhile a tank version of the same design was prepared, of which it was planned to build thirty engines, but only the first ten came out as tanks. These large 4-6-4Ts appeared in 1924 as LMS Nos.11110-19. No. 11114 was exhibited at the Wembley Exhibition in 1925 and No.11112 together with the 4-6-0 No. 10474 took part In the Darlington Centenary celebrations in the same year. For some reason it was decided to bring out the final twenty engines as 4-6-0s after all, and these duly appeared in 1924-5 as Nos. 10455-74.

In 1926 No. 10456 was rebuilt as a 4-cylinder compound with two 16”x 26” high pressure and two 22”x 26” low pressure cylinders, and it seems to have done well in this condition, although no more were similarly treated. This engine, along with a number of others of the later batch, did some good work on the North Western main line in the early years of the grouping.

Of the original engines, five which were never superheated became LMS Nos. 10400-4 and were scrapped in 1925-6. The others were renumbered from 10405 upwards, but most of them had disappeared by 1939. A few, however, survived the war, and seven passed into BR stock in 1948. The last in traffic became No. 50455 and was scrapped in 1951.

The 4-6-4Ts were taken out of service between 1938 and 1942. They had been intended for express working, but developed a reputation for being unsteady at speed, and were far too large and powerful to be used economically on local services.

Steam Locos of a Leisurely Era

1853 – Bristol & Exeter railway – 4-2-4T

No.40, taken some time between 1873 and 1876 – H.C.Casserley

The first of these somewhat extraordinary engines appeared towards the end of 1853, B&ER Nos. 42 – 46. Their 9’ 0” flangeless driving wheels were practically the largest ever used in this country*, or probably anywhere else for that matter. They were amongst the first engines to be fitted with bogie wheels.

They were obviously intended to be fliers, and they seem to have justified themselves in this respect, a speed of over 81 mph being recorded on one occasion, a very high figure for those days.

The distinctive designs by James Pearson, the railway company’s engineer, featured single large flangeless driving wheels and two supporting bogies . The water was carried in both well and back tanks, leaving the boilers exposed in the same way as tender locomotives.

They were numbered 39 – 46. Nos. 39 – 42 were withdrawn in 1868/1873, and replaced by new, almost identical engines having 8’ 10” driving wheels and a few other modifications. Nos. 43-6 were scrapped during the same period and not replaced. In 1876 Nos.39 – 42 became GWR 2001 – 4 on being absorbed into that Company’s stock. In the same year No. 2001 was derailed at Long Ashton when travelling at speed, as a result of which the other three were rebuilt in 1877 as 4-2-2 tender engines. No.2001 did not run again, and No. 2004 took its number on conversion. In their rebuilt form they took their place along with the ‘Iron Dukes’ between Paddington and Newton Abbot. No. 2002 lasted until 1890.

* An engine had been built in 1838 with 10’ 0” driving wheels, but it probably did little work as it ran for only two years.

138 – ChasewaterRailwayMuseum Bits & Pieces

From Chasewater News Autumn 1991 – Part 1

Editorial – Nigel Canning

This summer has seen a number of achievements on our railway. The station and its facilities have been improved, the track is gradually being extended towards the causeway and the existing running line maintained to the best of our ability. One big problem, however, still hangs over the line – the proposed motorway. The latest news is that it will be a toll road, and for various reasons may not now be completed until 1997. If we had a tiny percentage of the money already spent just planning and re-planning the motorway we could probably complete our railway and finance it for the next fifty years!

Locomotive News

No.4 Asbestos – Work on this loco has continued with the fitting of twenty four boiler tubes to replace those leaking when the loco was taken out of service. The steam manifold in the cab has now been re-machined and a new main shut off valve fitted. It is now likely that the hydraulic test will be carried out in the next couple of months.

No.5 Sentinel – This loco has worked all the passenger trains so far this year without major incident. The recent closure of Lea Hall Colliery brought about a brief change of fuel on the railway, and 9632 seemed to be much happier running on the replacement Littleton coal, however with the arrival of our two new mineral wagons and their unexpected contents the loco is again running on Lea Hall coal. One consequence of a Sentinel powered railway is that the water column has fallen into disuse and has not even been filled this year as the loco will run all day on its 500 gallon thankful with perhaps a little topping up from the hosepipe.

No.2 Lion – Four new mud doors have been made and fitted to the firebox, but the loco still awaits a set of washout plugs before it can be hydraulically tested. Already two sets have been specially made and found to be wrong to the dimensions specified. A third set is now being made!

S100 – Work is still progressing on the building of a machine to re-grind the hornguides of this loco.

DL7 – Upon attempting to start the engine after its having stood out of use for a few weeks yet another valve jammed, bending its pushrod. This time the damage appears more serious, requiring the removal of one of the cylinder heads to allow a repair to be effected. As a consequence the loco has been out of service throughout the summer.

Fowler – This loco has remained in regular use for shunting and for works train duties without problem, although it seems to have developed a loud hiss from the exhaust outlet, the reason for which has yet to be established.

Smith Rodley Crane – The crane has remained out of use lately although some work has been carried out in preparation for the fitting of safety guards over the exposed gearing in the cab.

Permanent Way News

As usual a lot of hard work has been put in on track maintenance and relaying. Work on the extension has been restricted to the monthly ‘track bashes’, but even so we are now getting very close to the houses at Norton. The may ‘track bash’ was boosted by help from the 1st Burntwood Scouts, although since then the holiday season has reduced numbers quite dramatically (to four on the August ‘bash’.Flier included with the magazine!

On other weekends effort has been concentrated on the existing running line. Various sections have been re-packed and aligned, as a result of which the ride is much smoother than it has been.

The whole of the running line as far as Willow Vale has been weedkilled by hand using watering cans, a mammoth task by any standards, and now looks very tidy indeed. In July a large area of weeds was dug out from the end of the line by a party of pupils from Brownhills Comprehensive School, making a great improvement. Even the bridge handrails have been renewed, this time using toe-rag proof bullhead rail and point rodding.

The concrete platform for Willow Vale was scheduled to arrive in July, but due to the SVR’s crane driver being ill, has been delayed for a while. Hopefully we can still get it delivered to Chasewater before the start of the dark evenings.

Carriage & Wagon News

It looks as if work will shortly begin on building a small carriage shed to allow restoration of wooden stack to continue in bad weather. It is intended that this ’temporary building’ will be erected against the buffer stops on No.1 road using steelwork and sheeting which has been in storage in the loco shed yard since last year. Work will commence with the painting of the metalwork and clearing of the proposed site.

Midland four-wheel Passenger Brake – A number of wooden panels have been removed for repair and to give access to the framework beneath. Because of this, the vehicle has remained partially sheeted over.

Manchester, Sheffield & Lincoln six-wheel coach – This vehicle has also received attention to its wooden panelling.

Great Eastern six-wheel Passenger Brake – This is yet another vehicle which has had body panels repaired, and this time painted in blue temporarily in order to keep out the weather.

Maryport & Carlisle six-wheel coach – This vehicle has been completely sheeted over and no further restoration has been carried out.

Wickham 2-Car DMU E56171 & E50416 – These two vehicles are still separated as the trailer is still; running as part of the passenger train. With the new station buffet now open for business, and the Derby centre car soon to take over on the passenger train, they will shortly be re-united so that their restoration to a working DMU can begin.

Gloucester Trailer E56301 – This vehicle has remained in service on the passenger train without problem, although the bodywork is now somewhat tatty to say the least.

Derby Centre car W59444 – This vehicle has not yet entered service but will do so shortly as soon as the Guard/Driver buzzer system has been modified. Up until now a separate wiring harness has been added to each coach for this purpose, but to simplify things, a special jumper cable has now been made so that coaches can connect via their own cabling, and to the loco via the new jumper lead. Once the Wickham is taken out of service, a new bar will be needed, possibly the ‘Derby Bar’.

Wagons – Details of the two new steel-bodied mineral wagons are given in a later post. The two GWR brake vans have remained in use as mess and tool vans on the works train. No work has been carried out on any other vehicle.

General News From The Line

Bric-a-Brac Stall – This now well established feature of Brownhills West Station continues to make a large contribution to the upkeep of our railway, typically £50 or £60 over a Bank Holiday weekend. Many thanks to Jan Forrest for the donation of books for the stall.

Station Buffet – The new station buffet is now open for business and requires only minor work such as the fitting of steel roller shutters over the windows to complete the structure. Named the ’Shunters’ Cabin’, this establishment is also making money and is a fantastic improvement over the previous arrangement. Mains water and electricity, and a staff toilet, are among the facilities not previously available in the old Wickham buffet.

Portaloos – The ‘Ladies’ and ‘Gents’ have also opened for business. This feature of the station will no doubt be appreciated by the public, and stands as a tribute to Walsall Council’s total disinterest in facilities at Chasewater. The building has been painted in maroon and cream with strategically positioned flower beds to hide the wheels.

This year has seen a continued increase in volunteers and therefore in the amount of work carried out on the railway. For the first time in a long while a number of major jobs have been carried out simultaneously, such as trackwork, carriage and wagon repairs and loco maintenance, even when trains are running.

A lot still remains to be done, and with a visit from the Railway Inspectorate now promised within the next couple of months, it is even more important that this level of activity continues.

Following the Railway Inspector’s visit we should know exactly what work is required to extend the line, or indeed to continue running the existing section, and will be able to plan accordingly. After all, it would still be nice to run trains into a platform at Willow vale Halt later this year. (Nigel Canning – Editor))

Locomotive News

No.4 Asbestos – Having been at a virtual standstill for a number of months, work has now re-commenced in earnest on the firebox repairs and preparation for the major boiler examination of this loco. A number of new tubes are to be purchased and will be fitted to replace those leaking when the loco was taken out of service. Hopefully the loco will re-enter service before No.5’s boiler certificate expires in October.Sentinel pausing at Willow Vale – Nigel Canning

No.5 Sentinel – This loco has so far handled all of this year’s trains. Recently adjustments have been made to the camshaft driven valve gear with, eventually, improved running as a result. Various minor steam leaks still remain to be attended to.

No.2 Lion – The new boiler tubes for this loco have now been fitted and work is progressing towards its first hydraulic examination.

S100 – Work is still progressing with the machining of the hornguides of this loco.

No.11 Alfred Paget – This loco received a very nice paint job and superficial restoration for the Bescot Open Day and has been placed on display at Brownhills West station.

No.7 – Ruston – This loco is still in good running order.

No.9 Fowler – Investigation into the starting problems of this loco which had been thought to be due to a damaged starter ring, revealed that in fact a multi-plate clutch built into the starter motor had become fouled with oil and was slipping under load. This clutch was cleaned and re-tensioned giving perfect first time starting on this loco.

Carriage & Wagon News

Work has recently started on two of our historic coaches, the Midland four-wheel passenger brake, and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway six-wheeler. Both have been in need of extensive renovation for some time, but now look set to receive it.

The Gloucester and Wickham trailer cars are still running coupled together to form the passenger train whilst the Wickham power car remains in use as the station buffet.

Permanent Way News

Brownhills West Loop – Nigel Canning

The new points at Brownhills West are now virtually complete along with their associated trap point set and lever frame. This means that we now have a complete run round loop for the first time in our railway’s history.

Weedkilling of the running line took place, rather belatedly, during May. Bad weather and financial restrictions having prevented this vital job being done earlier in the year. In addition, a number of worn sleepers have been renewed, and on particularly bad joint repaired. It is intended to grease the remaining fish plates on the line and re-pack any dipped joints in the next month or so.

The dramatic increase in members in recent months means that work continues even on event days when trains are running. In the near future the large steel gate at the shed yard entrance is to be moved down to the level crossing to complete the pair of gates there. A replacement for the shed yard has recently been donated in the form of a pair of wooden gates which when in position, will give slightly wider access for the large vehicles such as the coal merchant’s lorry.

The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act, 1921; it operated north of Perth Railway Station in Scotland and served the farthest north of Britain. Formed by amalgamation in 1865, it was absorbed into the London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1923.

Extent

The Highland Railway served the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty, Inverness, Perth, Nairn, Moray and Banff. Southward it connected with the Caledonian Railway at Stanley Junction, north of Perth, and eastward with the Great North of Scotland Railway at Boat of Garten, Elgin, Keith and Portessie. The headquarters were at Inverness, as were the workshops, Lochgorm Works.As was ancient custom, elderly engines in the pre-war years were usually out to grass on quiet branch lines. HR 4-4-0 then LMS No.14394 was no exception and is seen here at Fort George terminus on 28th May, 1930. H.C.Casserley.

History

The Inverness & Nairn Railway (INR): 15 miles (24 km) in length, was incorporated in 1854; the first train ran on 5 November 1855; it was the original part of the HR;

A railway between Nairn and Keith opened in 1858; in 1861 this was amalgamated with the INR to become the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway (I&AJR);

Two railways were to follow:

the Inverness & Perth Junction Railway, opened in 1863, which connected with the I&AJR at Forres, and which in turn joined the Perth & Dunkeld Railway (opened 7 April 1856) at Dunkeld, completing the main line of the HR, which itself came into being in 1865;

Lines to north were also being opened; all were merged with the HR by 1884:

23 March 1856 the Inverness & Ross-shire Railway, Inverness to Invergordon; it was extended to Bonar Bridge in 1864;

13 April 1868: the Sutherland Railway, Bonar Bridge to Golspie;

19 August 1870: the Dingwall & Skye Railway, Dingwall to Stromeferry;

19 June 1871: the Duke of Sutherland’s Railway, Golspie to Helmsdale built by the Duke of Sutherland;

28 July 1874: the Sutherland & Caithness Railway, Helmsdale to Wick and Thurso completed the line;

2 November 1897: the Dingwall and Skye Railway extended from Stromeferry to Kyle of Lochalsh;

1 November 1898: the “direct line” between Aviemore and Inverness opened, reducing the journey from 60 to 35 miles (97 to 56 km).

There were also several branch lines of the HR. From the south, these were:

the Aberfeldy Branch;

the Buckie & Portessie Branch: opened 1 August 1884, closed 7 August 1915 (to passengers and central section between Aultmore and Buckie totally)

the Fochabers Town branch: closed 14 September 1931

the Hopeman branch: also closed 14 September 1931

the Findhorn Railway: opened 1860, closed 1869 as being a failure

the Fort George branch: also closed 14 September 1931

the Fortrose branch: closed 1 October 1951

the Strathpeffer branch: closed to passengers 23 February 1946, closed to freight 26 March 1951

There were two light railways opened and run by the HR:

2 June 1902: the Dornoch Light Railway, again under the auspices of the Duke of Sutherland, 7.5 miles (12.1 km), between The Mound and Dornoch;

1 July 1903: The Wick and Lybster Light Railway, 13.5 miles (21.7 km). The line was abandoned on 3 April 1944.

In 1921, the railway comprised 484 miles (779 km) of line and the company’s capital stood at nearly £7 million.The morning train from Dornoch waits at ‘The Mound’ behind ex- Highland 0-4-4 tank, then BR 55053 in October 1951. P.B.Whitehouse

One of the inspired acts of the Scottish Region during recent years has been the steaming of their veteran museum engines, a gesture to enthusiasts and railway students which has been greatly appreciated. In June 1960, the BBC ‘Railway Roundabout’ team made a film of the ‘Jones Goods’ 4-6-0 No.103 heading a normal service train over one of her old stamping grounds, the line from Inverness and Dingwall to Kyle of Lochalsh. The veteran ran like clockwork and had no trouble at all with the severe gradients from Dingwall up to Achterneed and beyond. P.B.Whitehouse

British Railways Southern Region 0-6-0 ‘Terrier’ tank No.32670 leaves Tenterden Town station for Robertsbridge on 27th September, 1952. This engine, once London, Brighton & South Coast Railway No.70 Poplar, was built in December, 1872; it was later sold to Colonel Stephens, in May, 1901, who put it to work on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, giving it the number 3 and the name Bodiam. As late as the summer of 1948 it was still resplendent in apple green with the letters ‘K & ESR’ on its side tanks. J.G.Dewing

The first of these remarkable little engines, No.71 Wapping, came out in October, 1872, followed by No.70 Poplar and 72 Fenchurch in November. The class eventually totalled fifty, numbered 35 – 84, the last appearing in 1880. The design was a direct development of the type which William Stroudley had introduced on the Highland Railway during his short term of office on that line. (See previous post – Stroudley 0-6-0T, Highland Railway). They were designed originally for suburban work in the London area, but of later years their uses have been many and varied.There are few of Stroudley’s ‘Terriers’ left in service today, (1969) though they still work on the Hayling Island Branch and shunt the quay at Newhaven. Two have been preserved by British Railways, one at Brighton Works and another at the Clapham Museum of the BTC. There is also another working on the Bluebell Line. During their lives, engines of this class have gone far afield – even the mighty Great Western had two of them from the late Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway. They were favourites of Colonel Stephens. Their great assets were their high axle loading and their short wheelbase, which made them ideal engines for cheaply laid branches and light railways. No. 32661 leaves Havant for Hayling Island with the 12.35 pm train on 4th March, 1950. P.M.Alexander.

From 1901 onwards a number of them were disposed of, some were scrapped, but very many of them were sold out of service, details of which are to numerous to go into fully. It may be mentioned however that two of them went to the LSWR, one to the SECR, several to various light railways, others to collieries, whilst a few went on Government service during the first world war, and were subsequently disposed of to sundry undertakings. Of those that remained on the Brighton, a number were fitted with pull-and-push apparatus for motor train working, and most of the later survivors of the class had been rebuilt with extended smokeboxes. About a dozen still remained on the LBSCR books at grouping in 1923, but this total was increased under the Southern Railway regime, as several which had been sold previously now came back to the fold under the combined ownership. These included some which had gone to the Isle of Wight railways.The summer of 1949 saw the end of the Isle of Wight 0-6-0 ‘Terrier’ tanks. This class had worked the Merstone to Ventnor West branch from its inception in the days of the Isle of Wight Central Railway. ‘A1X’ class No.W8 Freshwater enters Ventnor West station on the early morning train on 18th April. P.M.Alexander

In later Brighton days the remaining engines had and their numbers increase by 600, the Southern Railway in turn put 2000 on to this, whilst those that have survived Nationalisation have again received an addition of 30000.

Those in the Isle of Wight were numbered in a special series as W9, etc., but on return to the mainland were either scrapped or given their original numbers plus the 326xx addition. A particularly interesting example of this perpetuation of identity occurs with No.70, which when sold to the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 1930 became their No.3 This line remained independent until 1948, when the engines became BR stock, and it duly received its rightful number 32670, having skipped the intervening 670 and 2670 phase during the many years it had been in independent hands. This engine, together with No. 32636 (old 72 – in this case the original number was not perpetuated) are in 1959 the oldest engines in service on British Railways.Travellers over the one-time Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction Railway, had they alighted at Burton-Dassett station under Edge Hill, would have found the remains of the moribund Edge Hill Light Railway, an unsuccessful Ironstone speculation where two Brighton ‘Terriers’ slumbered on grass-grown tracks. Both engines somehow survived the wartime scrap drives but were cut up on the site by 1946. J.H.L.Adams

William Stroudley, best known as locomotive superintendent of the LBSCR from 1870 to 1889, had previous to his appointment with that line spent two or three years on the Highland. During this short period he was able to do little but rebuild some old locomotives, but he did design and build one small tank engine which was the direct forerunner of his well-known ‘Terrier’ class (coming soon!) which he gave the Brighton. This locomotive was numbered 56 and named Balnain. After Stroudley had left two more were brought out by his successor in 1872 and 1874 respectively, No.57, Lochgorm, and 16, St. Martins. The latter was renamed FortGeorge and Balnain became Dornoch. All three were still running on the formation of the LMS Company in 1923, by which time their numbers had become 56B, 57B and 49B. They were renumbered into LMS stock as 16118, 16119 and 16383, and lost their names. Two of them were broken up in 1927, but 16119, the former Lochgorm lasted until 1932.

Driving wheels – 3’ 8”, Cylinders – 14”x 20”, Pressure – 120 lb.,

Tractive effort – 9087lb., Weight – 26 tons.

Terrier No.70 on the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 1933 for comparison.